SwiftKey 3 Beta launches, no space bar required (video)

By Myriam Joire
Just when we thought our favorite Android virtual keyboard couldn't get much better, TouchType decided to prove us wrong by launching SwiftKey 3 Beta. If you're one of the product's 30,000+ VIP users, you'll want to get your hands on the company's newest creation right now, for free. What's new? The space bar is no longer required, for one — Smart Space detects and corrects "miss-typed or omitted spaces across whole phrases." Paradoxically, that same space bar is now wider, just in case you're feeling nostalgic. Smart punctuation further enhances the UI, with language-specific improvements in tow. In fact, SwiftKey 3 offers support for seven new languages — Korean, Estonian, Farsi, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Serbian (for a total of 42). Finally, you'll find two lovely new themes, Cobalt and the Ice Cream Sandwich-inspired Holo. We've been playing with TouchType's latest and greatest for a few hours now on both our HTC One X and our Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and we've stopped using the space bar completely. Did you notice? Wedidn'tthinkso. Check out the gallery of screenshots below, hit the break for a demo video and the full PR, then follow the More Coverage link to sign up as a VIP.

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Next Generation Auto-Correct; SwiftKey 3 Beta Launches

A major leap forward in touchscreen typing

Beta release available to SwiftKey VIPs at http://vip.swiftkey.net

LONDON, April 4, 2012: SwiftKey 3, the latest-generation of the award winning keyboard app for Android devices, is now available as a free beta release to SwiftKey's passionate community of over 30,000 VIP users.

SwiftKey (http://www.swiftkey.net), which recently won the Most Innovative App at the Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, has packed the latest release full of fantastic new features and updates, including:

Smart Space – a major leap forward in auto-correction technology, Smart Space adds to SwiftKey's already cutting edge correction by detecting miss-typed or omitted spaces across whole phrases of poorly typed text in real-time. SwiftKey now offers the most accurate and complete auto-correction available on a smartphone or tablet.

Two new themes – a new theme, 'Cobalt', to match SwiftKey's new look and feel, and an Ice Cream Sandwich-styled 'Holo' theme, as voted for by SwiftKey's VIP community.

An enhanced UI – a much larger space bar and smart punctuation key help improve accuracy and make it quick and easy to access common punctuation.

Additional languages – SwiftKey 3 now offers support for an additional seven languages, bringing the total up to 42. The new languages are Korean, Estonian, Farsi, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Serbian.

New punctuation functionality – intelligent, language-specific punctuation handling (for example, spaces between words and certain symbols in French, such as 'Bonjour !').

In addition to these key updates, SwiftKey 3 includes core improvements such as backup of learned language data and improved options for users to customize auto-correction features.

This SwiftKey 3 Beta is only available through the SwiftKey VIP community, which new members are welcome to join now for a limited time only athttp://vip.swiftkey.net. SwiftKey's development team will be working closely with the community to gather feedback and make improvements.

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